The spring of the twenty-third year of Jian'an, for Liu Jing, is undoubtedly a harvest season, Jiaozhou was taken into his pocket, he himself added a pair of children, Xiao Qiao gave birth to a son, named Liu Yue, Da Qiao gave birth to a daughter, named Liu Bing, two children were born, so that the whole family was full of joy.

In mid-March, after approving the reward for the Battle of Jiaozhou, Liu Jing left Chang'an and went to Hexi to inspect, which was his first tour of Hexi after the Han army recovered Hexi.

In addition to the main bookkeeper Yin Zheng and Taifu Siqing Deng Zhi, there are naturally two second concubines, Sun Shangxiang and Cao Xian, going to the real prairie is Sun Shangxiang's dream since childhood, although she has been to Lingzhou with her husband, there is also a grassland there, but compared with the endless Hexi grassland, it is just a large area of grassland.

Cao Xian saw the grassland for the first time, she was even more curious, looking everywhere, and the mountains and rivers she saw made her secretly amazed, but she had a subtle and quiet personality, and did not express the joy in her heart.

The group crossed the Yellow River, passed through Hui County, and then entered the territory of Wuwei County, where a large grassland had appeared, Sun Shangxiang and Cao Xian were particularly interested, and every qiē outside the plug made them feel fresh and made their hearts extraordinarily broad.

Walking into the grassland, Sun Shangxiang urged the horse to gallop on the grassland, and ran without a trace with more than a dozen female guards, Cao Xian was not very good at riding, she sat in the carriage, and looked at Sun Shangxiang and his party with some envy.

Liu Jing rode unhurriedly beside the carriage and discussed with Deng Zhi about building a horse farm in Hexi.

Taifu Temple is responsible for animal husbandry and horse breeding, and the construction of a horse farm in Hexi is naturally within Deng Zhi's responsibility, in fact, the political affairs hall has long considered the establishment of ten official horse farms in Hexi, but it was delayed because of Ma Chao's rebellion, but since last year, the construction of horse farms has been restarted, and Deng Zhi is fully responsible for this matter.

"Your Highness, the addresses of the ten horse farms have been selected, there are two in Longxi, one in Qinghai, one in Lingzhou, and the rest are located in Hexi, considering that Wuwei County is mainly used for agriculture, so there is only one horse farm in Wuwei County, three in Zhangye County, one in Jiuquan County, and one in Juyanhai.

"How many horses are there now?" Liu Jing asked with a smile again.

"About 80,000 horses, we are ready to increase the total number of horses to 500,000 in ten years, and we are confident."

"It's not enough to have quantity alone, the key is quality, last time the Tao family got three hundred Dawan stallions, can you use them?"

"Back to Your Highness, those three hundred Dawan stallions are our treasures, and there are ten horse farms distributed, we are ready to use these three hundred stallions to breed a large number of high-quality war horses, and we will never let Your Highness down."

Liu Jing said: "There is also the matter of animal husbandry and cattle farming, this matter is very important and urgent, and it will be significantly improved in two or three years, so don't delay." ”

Liu Jing said that the cattle refer to the northern dryland cattle and the southern buffalo, both kinds of cattle are in great demand, especially the buffalo, with the unification of the south, the counties have implemented the national policy of recuperation, production gradually recovered, the demand for cattle is increasing, the current number of cattle is obviously insufficient, this is also a problem that Liu Jing attaches more importance to, and I hope that the Taifu Temple can try to solve this problem.

Deng Zhi thought for a while and said: "The problem of cattle is not big, there are more than 100,000 cattle in the hands of the Tuyuhun people, we can buy them from them, the shortage of cattle in the north can probably be alleviated, the key is buffalo, some officials proposed to raise buffalo in Hexi, I don't think it's realistic." ”

"Why?"

"The main reason is that buffaloes are afraid of cold in winter, and the problem of keeping warm is difficult to solve, last year in Zhangye tried to raise hundreds of buffaloes, but one winter, all of them were frozen to death, so they still have to be raised in the south, I plan to let every county in the south build a cattle farm, provide dry pasture in the north, or plant a large amount of pasture grass in the south."

Liu Jing nodded, "I don't care what your plan is, I just want the result, I hope to alleviate the plight of the shortage of cultivated cattle in the south within three years, this matter is related to the recovery of grain in the south, you should not take it lightly." ”

"Please rest assured that we have started to implement this matter in Bashu and Jingzhou last year, and it will be fully promoted this year."

As he was talking, there was a rapid sound of horses' hooves in the distance, Sun Shangxiang and more than a dozen female guards rode back again, Sun Shangxiang saw that her husband was still discussing government affairs with officials, and couldn't help but be a little angry: "The husband is not finished, he is talking about government affairs in Chang'an, he is also talking about crossing the Yellow River, he is also talking about it when he passes through Hui County, and he is still talking about it now, when will he talk about it?" ”

Liu Jing smiled, "There is no way, people must seek their positions in their positions, if I don't talk about government affairs, then I can only talk about military affairs." ”

Sun Shangxiang also realized that she couldn't show her face to the officials in front of her husband, otherwise her husband would turn his face faster than turning a book, and the dissatisfaction on her face disappeared immediately, urging the horse to come to the carriage and said to Cao Xian: "Little sister, don't sit in the car, let's ride together." ”

Cao Xian shook his head again and again in fright, "Second sister, I'm not very good at riding horses." ”

"I won't go to school! If you come to Hexi, you won't be sorry to ride a horse. ”

Cao Xian was also a little moved, a pair of beautiful eyes quietly looked at her husband, Liu Jing nodded and smiled: "Shang Xiang is right, you should learn to ride a horse, even your Sister Tao can, I will be in charge of the church." ”

At this time, Sun Shangxiang asked with a smile: "You can see a snow-capped mountain in front of you, what kind of mountain is it?" ”

Liu Jing looked at the distance, it seemed that there was one, but he didn't know what mountain it was, Deng Zhi was more familiar with the situation, and said with a smile: "It should be Guzang Mountain, the Huns regard it as a sacred mountain, and the Qiang people also worship it, and our horse farm in Wuwei County is at the foot of the mountain." ”

Liu Jing happily said: "Then go to the racecourse to have a look!" ”

"Won't Your Highness go to Guzang County?" An official asked.

"Let's talk about it when we come back!"

The team changed its route and no longer went to Guzang County, but headed towards the mighty Guzang Mountain in the southwest.

The huge Guzang Mountain stands above the Hexi Corridor, the top of the mountain is covered with snow, and the sunlight reflects a kind of blue brilliance, looking from afar, it seems that the top of the mountain is inlaid with a dazzling ice sapphire, so beautiful that it makes people take their breath away.

At the foot of the mountain is an endless plateau pasture, a jade belt-like river meanders and flows, flowing into the distance, at this time it is the spring of March, all kinds of colorful wildflowers are in full bloom, the grassland is like a colorful mythical world, women are beautiful by nature, not only Sun Shangxiang and Cao Xian are intoxicated by it, even the female guards are deeply attracted by this colorful world of flowers and plants, and many female guards have made garlands for themselves.

"It's a great place!"

Liu Jing couldn't help but admire: "You should bring the whole family, Zhu'er must not want to leave." ”

Sun Shangxiang smiled and said, "Husband, next year!" Next year, bring the whole family, and this year we are here to explore the way. ”

Liu Jing also smiled: "In fact, there are many places with this kind of flowers and plants, and there are a lot of them in Longxi, but if you want to see a snow-capped mountain, only Hexi is the most beautiful, so it's decided, come to inspect Hexi next year, and the whole family will come together." ”

At this time, the soldiers began to set up tents in the horse farm, Sun Shangxiang and Cao Xian also packed up their belongings in the tent, Liu Jing went to the horse shed in the distance, Deng Zhi led the Feilong herdsman to come to see the gift, the Feilong herdsman named Yang Lian, more than 30 years old, is a Han native of Longxi, raised horses and grazing since childhood, and has rich experience in horse herding.

"See His Royal Highness the King of Han!" Seeing King Han come to inspect in person, Yang Lian was extremely excited.

Liu Jing smiled and said: "Yang Mu doesn't need to be polite, I want to know about the situation in the racecourse, you can lead the way!" ”

"Your Highness, please come to your humble position!"

Yang Lian led Liu Jing to the stable, and introduced: "The horse farm was only established last year, and there are more than 7,000 war horses, all of which are high-quality horses, and our entire horse farm covers an area of more than 200,000 acres, and can raise at least 30,000 war horses. ”

As he was talking, hundreds of war horses galloped in front of them like a storm, and two Qiang herdsmen chased after them, Yang Lian pointed to the herdsmen and said: "These herdsmen are all local Qiang people, and the ranch has hired a total of 100 people, all of whom are experienced old herdsmen, and they can shepherd the best war horses." ”

"Is there a Dawan stallion here?"

"Yes! It's in the stable, and I ask Your Highness to come with me. ”

After inspecting the horse farm, Liu Jing rode back to the lodging place, and happened to see Cao Xian in front of the big tent, she was sitting on the grass weaving a wreath, and when she saw her husband coming back, she quickly stood up, "Where is Shang Xiang?" Liu Jing asked.

"She's a little tired, resting in the tent, I don't want to disturb her."

Liu Jing liked this gentle and quiet little wife very much, and he urged him to step forward and smiled: "Let's ride a horse and go for a walk!" ”

"But I'm not very good at horseback riding."

"We'll ride together, give me your hand."

Cao Xian bit his lip lightly, mustered up his courage, and handed his hand to Liu Jing, Liu Jing held her hand, grabbed her waist, and hugged her on the war horse with force, letting her cling to herself, holding the reins with both hands, and hugging her waist at the same time.

"Sit tight, it's time to go."

"Husband, slow down!"

Liu Jing laughed, urged the horse to gallop out, and in Cao Xian's exclamation, the war horse galloped faster and faster into the distance,

Cao Xian closed her eyes in fright, the war horse was so jolting that she almost fainted, and there was a whining phoenix in her ears, I don't know how long it took, the war horse finally stopped, she slowly opened her eyes, and they came to another meadow.

"Husband, my heart is about to stop beating." Cao Xian clutched her chest, pitifully looking up at her husband.

Liu Jing picked her up, turned her body around, let her hug her waist, lowered her head and kissed her red lips, and said softly: "Do you like it here?" ”

Cao Xian's cheeks were pressed against her husband's chest, her hands were tightly wrapped around her husband's waist, her eyes were hazy, and she nodded slightly, "I really like it, especially when you are by my side." ”

Liu Jing saw that the guards were chasing after him from afar, and knew that he couldn't be passionate in the wild with his wife, so he had to smile helplessly: "Let's go!" You ride the horse, and I slowly lead the horse back. ”